Kennedy Stewart

MP for Burnaby South

Kennedy Stewart is the Member of Parliament for Burnaby South. Elected in 2011 and re-elected in 2015, Kennedy is the BC Caucus Chair and NDP shadow minister for science. He has a Ph.D. from the London School of Economics and is a tenured associate professor on leave from Simon Fraser University.

The most fruitful way forward for resource development in B.C. appears to be through true co-management. Co-management moves beyond mere consent, to full and meaningful partnerships -- which require building a tremendous amount of trust through good-faith government-to-government negotiations and bringing in mature private sector partners.

Don't forget, way back in January 2014 Trudeau said about Kinder Morgan, "I certainly hope that we're going to be able to get that pipeline approved." Unless we make things uncomfortable for him politically, the prime minister will force this pipeline through our communities against our will -- the public's will.

One-off symbolic gestures such as appointing gender-balanced cabinets are not enough. Like the dozens of other countries ahead of us on the international gender equality league tables have discovered, the only way to move toward gender parity in parliament is to enact laws to prompt parties into action.

Enshrining an "equity mandate" would build on the tremendous work we have already done and make the NDP the most progressive party in the world when it comes to this issue. Trudeau certainly enjoys talking the equity talk, but by passing this motion the NDP will move miles ahead in walking the equity walk.

The extent to which the Liberal government takes seriously its response to these petitions will demonstrate how much it embraces openness and accountability, whether or not it chooses to support or oppose these requests. In two years, the Trudeau government is scheduled to review how the new system is working and how it might be improved. In my view, the prime minister should put in the measures found in my original motion where e-petitions gaining a high level of public support, say 100,000 signatures, could trigger debates in the House of Commons.

By choosing to shift towards industry-driven applied research at the expense of scientist-driven basic research, the Conservatives continue to undermine scientific progress - and these policies will adversely impact all of us, including the very industry they purport to be servicing.